The NRL has never been stronger. But there’s a storm on the horizon

Revenue is up. Off-field “atrocities” are down. A bumper new TV deal is expected. But the looming addition of two new teams in two years is set to cause an ‘El Nino’ of extreme conditions in the NRL. AnalysisSportNRLNRL 2026The NRL has never been stronger. But there’s a storm on the horizonBy Roy Masters February 20, 2026 — 3.30pmSaveLog in, register or subscribe to save articles for later.Save articles for laterAdd articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.Got itNormal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementOn the eve of another NRL season and the imminent announcement of record revenue and profit, the 17 clubs now enjoy what English author Charles Dickens in another genre described as “the best of times”.An aura of complacent optimism pervades the league. The expectation of a massive TV rights deal is driving clubs to be on their best behaviour, lest reports of dissatisfaction with head office undermine ARLC chair Peter V’landys and CEO Andrew Abdo in their delicate negotiations with broadcasters.All teams are undefeated. No club has lost a game yet … well, a meaningful one, anyway. Results of the Pre-Season Challenge are illusory, with clubs holding back their top players or running a strong squad against an opponent’s weak squad. This competition has replaced trials, which were games where the word meant something in the adversary sense insofar as one team succeeded and the other failed.Clubs accept that these games exist merely as content to satisfy pay TV. The Dragons and Sea Eagles staged an in-house scrimmage, closed to the public. Compare that to the first Charity Shield match in 1982 between the Dragons and Rabbitohs. The word “charity” applied only in the sense the gate receipts went to local hospitals. There was zero goodwill on the field. Tensions were already high before kick off and boiled over when South Sydney broke an agreement on the use of replacements. As coach of the Dragons, I retaliated, causing an argument on the sideline which was cheered on by a group of Souths fans specially bussed in and positioned behind the St George bench to heckle our squad.Compare that to the collegiate spirit which now pervades the NRL. Financial security is the basis of the comity between clubs. None are under threat of going broke. Rugby League Central funds every club’s player wages bill, and provides an additional $5m to assist in its administration expenses. Gate receipts, sponsorship and membership income usually cover the rest of its operating costs. Sure, the Holman Barnes Group of licensed clubs has been forced to tip in $34m to Wests Tigers the past 25 years, but that has mainly been to pay out the contracts of sacked coaches and officials.Co-operation has presumably replaced competition in the sense that no club has been caught for significant salary cap breaches in six years. Compare this with the rorting over a three-year period (2016-19) when three clubs (Eels, Sea Eagles and Sharks) were fined up to $1m, lost premiership points and had club officials banned. (Curiously, those three clubs did not learn from the Draconian punishments handed to the Melbourne Storm in 2010, suggesting that NRL clubs have been on a steep learning curve over the same period since.)Happy days: NRL CEO Andrew Abdo and ARLC chairman Peter V’landys.Credit: Getty ImagesNor has there been any off-season “atrocities” of the kind that led the NRL to introduce an automatic stand-down policy for serious breaches, such as sexual assault. Off-field crimes were running at the rate of one every 22 days. Broncos half Ezra Mam was the last to be stood down, copping a nine-game ban and $120,000 in fines for an October 2024 car collision while testing positive to a cocktail of drugs. There have been no reported incidents in the most recent off-season. As the NRL’s brand reputation has improved, sponsorship income has increased – but at the expense of players’ loss of the presumption of innocence.The harmony between the 17 clubs contrasts with the days when my president at Wests, Bill Carson, addressed a regular general committee meeting of Sydney clubs and declared, “In here, you’ve got to catch and kill your own.”AdvertisementSouths’ clandestine poaching of Broncos forward Payne Haas did not elicit a murmur of outrage from Brisbane. Instead, each club issued statements cleared by the other’s CEO before release. No-one from the Broncos mentioned that the Skinny Coach, Wayne Bennett, likes nothing better than to exact revenge on the club which sacked him twice.OK, Parramatta and Melbourne are heading to court over the Zac Lomax case, amid revelations the Storm pressured the NRL to force a deal. But the NRL had been set to approve the contract, until fear of a backlash from their fans forced the Eels to get tough.The NRL double-header in Las Vegas, now in its third year, positions the code to jump-start the season. Vegas has become such a signature event that it has further eroded the status of the pre-season fixtures, especially the Charity Shield and the All Stars Match.The eyes of reporters are focused on the Nevada jamboree, which doubles as a networking opportunity for media executives all